Saint Paul 2008

Minnesota Public Radio reports on the less mediapathic side of the 2008 RNC convention in St. Paul, Minnesota - the negative effect the convention’s presence and security measures will have on area businesses.

The problem is that security - the Secret Service, mainly - will establish a perimiter around RiverCentre and the Xcel Energy Center, inside of which only the pre-approved will be allowed. Besides the obvious effects on businesses in the immediate vicinity of the convention, there’s another demographic facing potentially unpleasant consequences: the city’s homeless.

Kitty-corner from the Xcel Energy Center is the Dorothy Day Center, home, on any given night, to a few hundred homeless people. They worry, quite rightly, that the shelter may be forced to close during the convention. It’s unfortunate, but there will doubtless be temporary accomodations set up elsewhere for them.

Nobody knows yet where the perimeter around the convention is going to be, but some educated guesses can be made, and we hope to have a map on this site shortly, with our best estimate of who will be allowed where, and why. Because of the convention location, and the geography of downtown Saint Paul, the perimiter is probably going to be much larger than most people expect.